India now third most likely forced marriage destination for UK

India has become the third most likely country where a British national is forced into marriage, the latest UK government data revealed, according to which Pakistan continued to record the largest number of such cases.

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), a joint UK Home Office and Foreign Office government body, recorded as many as 110 cases of British nationals being subjected to forced marriage linked to the "focus country" of India in 2018.

Pakistan continued to record the largest number of forced marriage cases at 769, followed by Bangladesh at 157 and Somalia slipping down to fourth place with 46 cases last year.

"Forced marriage is not a problem specific to one country or culture. Since 2011, the FMU has handled cases relating to over 110 countries across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America, the FMU said in its 2018 analysis released last week.

The figure related to India marks a rise from 82 in 2017 and 79 in 2016 and the breakdown found that almost 30 per cent .